[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 15 (Monday, April 14, 2003)]
[Pages 415-420]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's News Conference With Prime Minister Tony Blair of the 
United Kingdom in Hillsborough, Northern Ireland

April 8, 2003

    Prime Minister Blair. Good morning, everyone. First of all, I would 
like to extend a very warm welcome to President Bush to Northern 
Ireland. America has long been a friend of Northern Ireland and a friend 
to us in this important period for the peace process. So it's both 
significant and welcome that the President is here in person to give 
once more his support and to join with me and, later today, with the 
Irish Taoiseach in urging the parties to take the final steps towards a 
lasting peace here in Northern Ireland.
    It's also perhaps fitting that here in Northern Ireland a good part 
of our discussion focused on the Middle East. It's not so many years ago 
that it would have been said that the peace process here was in far 
worse shape than the process out in the Middle East. Yet, here we are, 
for all the difficulties in Northern Ireland, able to point back to real 
improvements in the security and the standard of living of people here 
and to point forward to turning progress into lasting change, lasting 
security, and lasting peace, which is what people want to see here. And 
we've made that progress because of patience and perseverance and 
because friends like those in the United States of America have helped 
us get there.
    So to those who can sometimes say that the process in the Middle 
East is hopeless, I say we can look at Northern Ireland and take some 
hope from that.
    I want to thank the President also for the impetus he has given to 
the two-state solution in the Middle East that he outlined last June, a 
secure Israel and a viable Palestinian state, and for his decision that 
the roadmap be published, which as you know, depends upon the foundation 
of Abu Mazen's cabinet.
    Of course, our discussions have naturally continued to focus upon 
Iraq, upon the continuing military campaign, where, once again, our 
forces have performed superbly. And I want to pay tribute to the U.S., 
UK, and other coalition forces. In all parts of the country, our power 
is strengthening; the regime is weakening; the Iraqi people are turning 
towards us.
    I'd like to pay tribute to the professionalism and the compassion 
that they continue to show and to express my condolences to the families 
of those that have lost their lives in this conflict, most recently, the 
three brave soldiers who lost their lives fighting to liberate Basra. I 
think anyone who has seen the joy on the faces of people in Basra as 
they realize that the regime that they detest is finally collapsing 
knows very well that this was, indeed, a war of liberation and not of 
conquest.
    On weapons of mass destruction, we know that the regime has them. We 
know that as the regime collapses, we will be led to them. We pledged to 
disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, and we will keep that 
commitment.
    On Saddam, his grip on power has been prized away. He has ruled by 
fear. But as the knowledge sinks in that we will get the job done, the 
people realize there's not going to be a repeat of 1991; there's not 
going to be a repeat of the past. The power of Saddam is ending.
    And our enemy in this conflict has always been Saddam and his 
regime, not the Iraqi people. We are the friends of the Iraqi people. So 
much of our discussion today has focused on how we continue to get vital 
supplies of food, water, and medicines to them and how we help the 
process of transition to the day when Iraq is governed by the Iraqi 
people for the Iraqi people.
    As we said, our forces will not stay in Iraq a day longer than is 
necessary. We will take on the legal and moral obligations that will 
fall to us as the forces on the ground to stabilize the country, to keep 
basic services going, to protect civilian life. Then we will help Iraq 
move as swiftly as possible to an Interim Authority run by Iraqis. And 
that, in turn, is designed to pave the way for a truly representative 
government which respects human rights and the rule of law, which spends 
Iraq's wealth not on palaces and weapons of mass destruction but on the 
well-being, prosperity of the people of Iraq.
    And this new Iraq that will emerge is not to be run either by us or, 
indeed, by the U.N.

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That is a false choice. It will be run by the Iraqi people. All of us 
will do what we can to help in that process of transition. We are, of 
course, agreed, as we say in our joint statement, that there will be a 
vital role for the United Nations in the reconstruction of Iraq. But the 
key is that Iraq, in the end, should be governed by the Iraqi people.
    Once again, let me thank President Bush for coming here. Let me say, 
as well as our own pride in our own forces during the course of this 
conflict, we have watched with immense admiration the skill and tenacity 
and professionalism of the American forces. This is a strong alliance. 
We're strong allies. And I think, day by day, the proof of the wisdom of 
that alliance grows.
    Thank you.
    President Bush. Thank you very much, Tony. It's an honor to be with 
you again. It's--I'm really pleased to be here in Northern Ireland.
    The Prime Minister is a man of his word. He is a man of great 
ability, deep conviction, and steady courage. He has my admiration, and 
he has the admiration of the American people.
    Our two countries are joined in large tasks because we share 
fundamental convictions. We believe that free nations have the 
responsibility to confront terrorism. We believe free nations must 
oppose the spread of weapons of mass destruction. And we believe that 
free nations must advance human rights and dignity across the world. We 
believe that the just demands of the international community must be 
enforced, not ignored. We believe this so strongly that we are acting on 
our convictions.
    America and Britain have been partners in Afghanistan, where a 
terrorist regime has been replaced by a government committed to justice 
and to peace. At this moment, our military forces are fighting side by 
side in Iraq to defend our security and to free that nation from 
oppression. Our Governments are working to help bring about a settlement 
in the Middle East that protects the rights of Israelis and 
Palestinians, that promotes the peace, that promotes security, that 
promotes human dignity.
    In Northern Ireland, the Prime Minister and I are committed to 
helping the parties take the final steps toward a lasting peace. Later 
this week, Prime Minister Blair and the Taoiseach will release a plan 
setting out the remaining actions that must be taken to realize the 
promise of the Good Friday agreement. I support and my Government 
strongly supports their efforts. At the meeting this afternoon, I will 
urge Northern Ireland's political leaders to adopt this plan as their 
own.
    This is an historic moment, and I ask all the communities of 
Northern Ireland to seize this opportunity for peace.
    Prime Minister Blair and I are also reviewing the course of the 
battle in Iraq. We're spending a lot of time talking about that 
country's future beyond war and beyond tyranny. As the Prime Minister 
mentioned, our armed services are conducting themselves with great 
courage and, at the same time, great humanity. I'm proud of our forces. 
I'm proud of the British forces. We're both proud of the Australian 
forces.
    We share sacrifices. We share grief. We pray for those families who 
mourn the loss of life, American families, British families. And as this 
war has progressed, the world has witnessed the brutal desperation, the 
true character of the Iraqi regime. The world is also witnessing the 
liberation and humanitarian aid our coalition is bringing to that 
country as a new day begins in Iraq.
    In fighting this war, we're taking every precaution to protect 
innocent life. We're showing respect for the Iraqi people, respect for 
their culture. There will be difficult fighting ahead, yet the outcome 
is not in doubt: Iraq will be free.
    After the current regime is removed, our coalition will work to 
restore electricity and water supplies, medical care, and other 
essential services in Iraq. We'll move as quickly as possible to place 
governmental responsibilities under the control of an Interim Authority 
composed of Iraqis from both inside and outside the country. The Interim 
Authority will serve until a permanent government can be chosen by the 
Iraqi people.
    The rebuilding of Iraq will require the support and expertise of the 
international community. We're committed to working with international 
institutions, including the

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United Nations, which will have a vital role to play in this task.
    This work when the war is finished will not be easy, but we're going 
to see it through. A free Iraq will be ruled by laws, not by a dictator. 
A free Iraq will be peaceful and not a friend to terrorists or a menace 
to its neighbors. A free Iraq will give up all its weapons of mass 
destruction. A free Iraq will set itself on the path to democracy. The 
end of Saddam's regime will also remove a source of violence and 
instability in the Middle East.
    Prime Minister Blair and I are determined to move toward our vision 
of broader peace in that region. We're committed to implementing the 
roadmap toward peace, to bring closer the day when two states, Israel 
and Palestine, live side by side in peace and stability.
    Peace in the Middle East will require overcoming deep divisions of 
history and religion. Yet we know this is possible; it is happening in 
Northern Ireland. We are proving that old patterns of bitterness and 
violence, the habits of hatred and retribution, can be broken when one 
generation makes the choice to break those habits. And now this process 
of healing must be carried forward.
    The United States and the United Kingdom accept our 
responsibilities--accept our responsibilities for peace. We accept our 
responsibilities for security. Across the world, we are meeting these 
responsibilities together. America has no finer ally than the United 
Kingdom and no finer friend than the Prime Minister. And I'm grateful 
for his leadership in these crucial days.
    Prime Minister Blair. Right. Adam [Adam Boulton, Sky News].

Northern Ireland Peace Process

    Q. Mr. President, welcome to Northern Ireland. I wonder if I could 
ask you how you feel about meeting the leaders of the Republican 
movement, bearing in mind that unlike Saddam Hussein, they have directly 
targeted British civilians, British politicians, members of the British 
military and the police, and also, of course, that they oppose the war. 
So you're welcoming Gerry Adams, apparently, and yet, you're not going 
to see someone like the Democratic Unionists who are a constitutional 
party opposed to terrorism.
    President Bush. Right. This isn't my first time I've met Mr. Adams 
or any of the other parties who have committed to the Good Friday 
agreement--as a matter of fact, I welcomed to the Oval Office, around 
Saint Patrick's Day of this year and last year and the year before.
    I am honored to have been asked to be here to help move the process 
along. These are men who have committed to an agreement that the Prime 
Minister and the Taoiseach worked a long time to achieve. They've signed 
on to a process that will yield peace. They have agreed to put hatreds 
in the past. They have agreed to say the history is just that--history. 
And they look forward to a future in which young generations of Northern 
Irelanders can grow up in peace. That's what they've committed 
themselves to. And as a result of making that commitment, I am perfectly 
comfortable about urging them to see the process through.
    There is such hope here in Northern Ireland that the past can be 
broken. And the Prime Minister is right when he says that when the peace 
process is successful here, it will send a really important signal to 
other parts of the world. It'll confirm the fact that people who have a 
vision for peace can see that vision become a reality.
    It's the same vision we need to have in the Middle East. It's a 
hopeful time in the Middle East, as far as I'm concerned. I believe we 
can make substantial progress. I'm pleased with the new leader of the 
Palestinian Authority. I look forward to him finally putting his cabinet 
in place so we can release the roadmap.
    I believe peace is possible. Being here in Northern Ireland even 
makes me even more firm in my belief that peace is possible. I've talked 
at length with the Prime Minister about how hard he had to work to bring 
the process this far. I'm willing to expend the same amount of energy in 
the Middle East. And so I hope these leaders hear me when I say that--
achieve the agreement, because it will have an effect beyond Northern 
Ireland. And I think it will.
    Yes, Ron [Ron Fournier, Associated Press].

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Regime Change in Iraq/Postwar Plans

    Q. Mr. President, how reliable was the intelligence that put Saddam 
Hussein at the site of last night's attack? Did he survive? And given 
the incursions in Baghdad recently, is the war nearly over?
    President Bush. You know, I don't know whether he survived. The only 
thing I know is he's losing power. I know that because the Royal Marines 
in Basra worked so hard that the people of Basra are beginning to 
understand that--a couple of things: One, when we said we would come and 
stay to achieve their liberty, we meant it; that in Basra, for example, 
the Royal Marine--the presence of the Royal Marines is providing enough 
comfort for people to begin to express their own opinions. They're 
beginning to realize freedom is real.
    These are people in the south of Iraq that had been betrayed, 
tortured, had been told they were going to be free, took a risk in the 
past and then were absolutely hammered by the Iraqi regime. They were 
skeptical. They were cynical. They were doubtful. Now they believe. 
They're beginning to understand we're real and true, and it's happening 
elsewhere. Freedom is spreading south to north.
    So the only thing I can tell you is, is that that grip I used to 
describe that Saddam had around the throats of the Iraqi people are 
loosening. I can't tell you if all 10 fingers are off the throat, but 
finger by finger, it's coming off. And the people are beginning to 
realize that. It's important for the Iraqi people to continue to hear 
this message: We will not stop until they are free; Saddam Hussein will 
be gone. It might have been yesterday. I don't know. But he'll be gone, 
and they just need to know that, because we're not leaving. And not only 
that, they need to hear the message that we're not leaving after he's 
gone until they are ready to run their own government.
    I hear a lot of talk here about how we're going to impose this 
leader or that leader. Forget it. From day one, we have said the Iraqi 
people are capable of running their own country. That's what we believe. 
The position of the United States of America is, the Iraqis are plenty 
capable of running Iraq, and that's precisely what is going to happen.
    Prime Minister Blair. Andy.

U.N. Role in Postwar Iraq

    Q. Andrew Marr, BBC News. Picking up if I could, just on that last 
point for both of you, have you agreed whether the United Nations will 
have any role in selecting the Interim Iraqi Authority? Or will that be 
entirely for the coalition?
    President Bush. Yes. I mean, when we say vital role for the United 
Nations, we mean vital role for the United Nations in all aspects of the 
issue, whether it be humanitarian aid or whether it be helping to stand 
up a Interim Authority. The Iraqi people will decide who's on the 
Iraqi--the Interim Authority. The Interim Authority is a transition 
quasi-government until the real Government shows up, until the 
conditions are right for the people to elect their own leadership. And 
the United Nations will have a vital role.
    When we say vital role, that's precisely what we mean, that they 
will be involved, along with the coalition, in helping to stand up an 
Interim Authority. But the Iraqi people are responsible for who's on 
that Authority. And Tony can describe what's happening in Basra. He 
might describe some of the meetings that are taking place as leadership 
begins to emerge.
    It is a cynical world that says it's impossible for the Iraqis to 
run themselves. It is a cynical world which condemns Iraq to failure. We 
refuse to accept that. We believe that the Iraqi people are capable, 
talented, and will be successful in running their own Government.
    Prime Minister Blair. I agree with all that, as you would expect. 
And can I just make this further point to you, the one thing that is 
interesting is that as people in Iraq realize that Saddam and his regime 
are going, as they realize that, they are coming out. And it's not that 
they're welcoming us because they're welcoming foreign troops. They're 
welcoming the fact of their liberation from a regime--the more we know 
about it, the more brutal, repressive, tyrannical we see its character. 
And therefore, these people, given a chance, already now they're in 
discussion with our people inside Basra--people coming forward, people 
talking about those who have got support within the local community.

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    Iraq--it's not just that it's right that Iraq is run by Iraqi 
people; they want the chance to run their own country. They haven't 
wanted to be under the yoke of tyranny for all these decades. The reason 
you have this incredibly tyrannical, repressive security apparatus was 
in order to suppress the proper feelings of the people there.
    Now, of course, we're going to work with everyone. We'll work with 
the U.N. We'll work with everyone in order to bring this about. But if I 
can just make this point to your point, the important thing is not to 
get into some battle about words of the precise role here or there, but 
let's all work together internationally--the coalition forces, the 
international community together--to do what we really should be doing, 
which is making sure that that will of the Iraqi people is properly 
expressed in institutions that in the end they own, not any outside 
power or authority.
    And I think if we keep that vision in our minds, then we'll get this 
right. And rather than having a sort of, you know, endless diplomatic 
wrangles over it, let's all just agree that the basic things that the 
Iraqi people want is they want to have a country where they are able to 
exploit their own wealth for their own prosperity, where they have basic 
protection of human rights, and where they have a Government genuinely 
representative of Iraqi people--of the full diversity of Iraqi people.
    And I think what the President's just said there is so true, that--I 
can't tell you how many times people have said to me in these 
situations, ``Well, the outside world doesn't really understand. Somehow 
these people who are living under these types of tyrannies, really, 
that's the way they live.'' It's not the way they want to live. It's the 
way they're forced to live. Give them a chance to live freely, and they 
will live freely.
    President Bush. Steve [Steve Holland, Reuters].

U.N. Debate on Postwar Iraq

    Q. Mr. President, what is--what exactly is the vital role for the 
U.N. that you both mentioned? How do you explain what is a vital role? 
And are we going to see the same U.N. debate over postwar Iraq that we 
saw before the war?
    President Bush. Well, I view a vital role as a agent to help people 
live freely. That's a vital role. That means food; that means medicine; 
that means aid; that means a place where people can give their 
contributions; that means suggesting people for the IIA; that means 
being a party to the progress being made in Iraq. That's what that 
means. And I want to thank Kofi Annan for naming a personal 
representative to the process yesterday. It is a positive step.
    We have said all along there needs to be a role for the United 
Nations. We said so in the Azores. We will keep repeating it. And 
evidently there's some skepticism here in Europe about whether or not I 
mean what I say. Saddam Hussein clearly now knows I mean what I say. And 
when, you know, we--and people in Iraq will know we mean what we say 
when we talk about freedom. And a vital role for the United Nations 
means a vital role for the United Nations.
    Prime Minister Blair. Absolutely. And there is no reason whatever 
why we need to go back into the wrangles we had over, you know, the so-
called second resolution. If people keep in mind the key objective, 
which is the well-being of the Iraqi people--whatever is--the past is 
the past. But this country is in the process of being liberated. If they 
keep in mind the well-being of the Iraqi people, then I think we all 
then share a responsibility to make that objective be fulfilled in terms 
of what the Iraqi people want, in terms of their democratic rights, in 
terms of their prosperity, in terms of their freedom. And with good will 
and common sense, I'm sure it can be done.
    President Bush. Thank you. I appreciate you.

Note: The President's news conference began at 11:08 a.m. in the Throne 
Room at Hillsborough Castle. In his remarks, he referred to Prime 
Minister Bertie Ahern of Ireland; President Saddam Hussein of Iraq; Sinn 
Fein leader Gerry Adams; Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) of the 
Palestinian Authority; and Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Special 
Adviser for Iraq Rafeeuddin Ahmed of the United Nations.

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